Taking time out from tending blistered bits of body to write up our report of an amazing weekend hosted by Islay Rowing Club. The mere fact of travelling by ferry lends an air of adventure to any expedition and this was no exception. We were treated to a most beautiful two hour cruise under blue skies from Kennacraig to Port Ellen in the south of Islay. Our accommodation for the next three days was “The Nest” a recently refurbished traditional Islay house which was just ideal. On Friday evening we made contact with our hosts in The Islay Hotel to run through the itinerary for the next couple of days. Racing was planned for Saturday and recreational rowing for Sunday, so an early night would have been a good idea!

Saturday dawned dampish( Hissing down with thunder and lightning!) but luckily the serious business of racing was planned for early evening so we took advantage of the time to stretch our legs on the path from Port Ellen to Ardbeg via Laphroaig and Lagavulin! It was amazing to stagger across so many famous names contained within so few square miles!

At 5 we donned our red gear and sallied forth to uphold the honour of NBRC. However, Islay Rowing Club had other plans and we put names in a hat to form teams taken from both clubs. This proved to be enormous fun and, as always, it was really interesting to see how other clubs set up their boats and to pick up tips from their style of rowing. We had ladies’, men’s and mixed racing in three of the five Islay skiffs: Lily Bheag, Bluebell and Bonnie Anne. Competition was fierce, and hugely enjoyed by all of us.

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We rounded off the evening with a barbecue on the harbour side where huge amounts of Malteser cake were consumed by the author and friendships cemented.

To our utter delight, recreational rowing on Sunday seemed to involve rowing from one distillery to the next, sampling a range of Islay Malts as we went on our merry way!

Phil’s face was split from ear to ear by a huge cheesy grin which grew steadily wider as the day progressed! Against all the odds, we managed to row back to Port Ellen where the endless hospitality of our hosts saw us leaving the Islay Hotel each bearing a bottle of Islay Malt Whisky!

We had an unforgettable weekend and our thanks must go to Islay Rowing Club for their friendship and hospitality which epitomised the true spirit of Coastal Rowing.

Great day out at South Queensferry where the scenery and home baking are hard to beat Big up to the novice crew of Tracy, Mrs Medium, Ann and Clive who had to pull 16 stone of cox around and still win their race in a very competetive lineup. Placings for mixed , mens and ladies over 40 whilst our open ladies were a victim to some over zealous reading or lack of reading the rules by some of the younger clubs.

Order was restored by the imperious men's open crew romping home coxed by our delightful ladies captain putting the whippersnapper back in their box. There was a mix up race after but the author was stuffing his face with cake after a self imposed fast in the name of weight saving.

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Thursday is ladies night at NBRC, in a rare window of calm during this weeks high winds, the ladies managed an outing on their regular Thursday night slot.  Ten of North Berwick Rowing Club's fairer sex headed east to Daisy Island at a steady pace.  Newbies joined some of the clubs more experienced rowers and no doubt were picking up tips on how to pull that oar and stay in time.  As the daylight is pretty much at it's maximum this month a couple of regatta crews were out after us so we didn't even have to put the boat away.  As Mel put it "it's like getting a train ride and not having to pay" .  Same again next week.  Happy Days.

NBRC took part in the Ocean to City  long distance race in Ireland, bringing home silver and gold. The team of four men and four women journeyed to the Emerald Isle, where they met with over 100 participants rowing in everything from wooden working boats, currachs, skiffs, gigs and longboats to kayaks and racing shells.

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A mixed crew (Lizzie Cowan, David Davidson, Rachael Porteous, Louise Presslie and Steve Thomson) rowed Skiff John B around the Ocean Course of 28km from Crosshaven to Lapp's Quay in Cork city, (check out the GPS route. They won second place in the Mixed Crew category overall behind ‘Edermine Ferry’ of Cork's currach club Noamhóga Chorcaí. Amongst the seven St Ayles Skiffs that attended from Coigach and Ullapool (Scotland), Blakeney (Northumberland) and Strangford and Portaferry (Ireland), the NBRC ‘Skiff John B’ crew picked up the trophy for second place behind a men's crew from Achiltibuie.

Coxed by Jacque Turner, John Irvine and Robbie Wightman rowed the City Course 22km from Crosshaven to Cobh and in to Lapp's Quay in ‘Speedwell’, a Teifi Skiff. The pair sculled the skiff to win first position in both the Veteran Crew and City Crew categories.

NBRC travelled to Amble in Northumberland to take part in their inaugural regatta. The 1st of June gave us cloud, wind, rain and a very, very little bit of sun in the afternoon for a fairly low key affair with only one mixed sprint event, with heats, semis and a final. Neighbours, Dunbar and Eskmuthe travelled together with relatively new clubs from Alnmouth, Blyth, Gosforth, Gateshead and Whitburn.

The Blackadder crew was probably the most experienced on the day for short, sharp course which had similarities to Port Seton. However, even the novice crews, often with good coxes, put up very impressive performances resulting in all clubs finishing the first heat within a few seconds of each other. We went through to the semis with the second fastest time to meet Eskmuthe in the decider. Jeannie in bow, Norma, Sandy, Sheena in stroke and cox Claire pulled out everything to challenge Steedie Falconer and were absolutely neck and neck around all the buoys but at the line, down by half a second on a four minute race. A great day for Eskmuthe because it was their first regatta win and for a couple of their crew their first race.

The planned afternoon event, a social row out to and around Coquet Island, was cancelled because of the high winds and substituted for a fresh water row up the River Coquet. The flotilla of skiffs had a stiff pull against the river and wind for the first part but were rewarded with an easier row up to and around the very prominent Warkworth Castle. Crews then alternated and changed for the row back down river.

A good day for NBRC members meeting and socialising with other rowers and supporting Amble RC in their first successful regatta.